Pages

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Life has been pretty busy over the past few weeks and I’m
preparing for it to get even busier!

Spring has finally arrived and I have been trying to take
full advantage of the gorgeous weather. Long walks, jogs, picnics, hikes, etc.
have been my source of stress relief from all the business.

Two weekends ago I was also able to travel with my best
girlfriends to the Finger Lakes, NY for a wine tour. It was seriously so much
fun…! All 6 of us crammed into one hotel room and just laughed the whole
weekend. It was a five hour drive each way BUT surprisingly that was one of my
favorite parts of the trip. Singing loudly to our favorite songs and playing strange
car games were some of the highlights.

Weston has started fishing again so it was a good weekend
for him too! He caught us a bunch of trout to eat and I supplied the wine for
the next couple of dinners. ;)

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Work Update:

I work at Lancaster County Children and Youth as a protective
caseworker. That means I work with families that still have their children but need
some extra help. I work with these families to get them on the right path and
hopefully help them find and utilize resources that prevent the placement of their
children. As you can imagine it can be a pretty tough job.

I grew up in a foster family where we over 32 children come
in and out of our home… and my two youngest siblings are adopted so this
profession is near and dear to my heart. It can be really tough some days but
the success stories are why I do it. It’s something that is very hard to
explain but I know that this is where God wants me to be right now.

I am also a photographer and wedding season is just
beginning!!! Some awesome things have happened and I am shooting 22 weddings
this year… YES, I said TWENTY TWO. Haha… I managed the get 10 on my own and
then I was asked to second shoot with my favorite photographers …EVER at Brooke
Courtney Photography. I am still kind of in disbelief that this is actually
happening but I could not be more excited.

So between my full time job as a caseworker, 22 weddings,
not to mention my little sister’s AND best friend’s weddings (which I am MOH in
BOTH) in September I am going to be one busy girl.

Some people call me absolutely crazy but I could not be
happier with the opportunities God has put in front of me.

Weston on the other hand is still teaching in York City
Schools. He is learning to love it so much and we are preparing to hear if they
are renewing his position into next year. This is something that has been
weighing heavy on my heart for many reasons and prayers are appreciated!

Music is something that we feel is so important and it
breaks my heart that it is even a consideration to take it out of the schools.
Anyway, I could go on forever but I’m leaving this one up entirely to God!
There is only one quarter left in his school year and during the summers he
works at a golf course which he absolutely loves.

As we prepare for this crazy awesome summer to start I
wanted to update you all and write it down so in a couple years from now I can
look back and remember all of this.

I can’t think of anything better than being married to your
best friend. It has been 9 months (ONE YEAR THIS SUMMER… whaaaat?!) and I just can’t
imagine doing life with anyone else. It has been such an amazing journey so far
and I just cannot wait to see what else is in store. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed
with happiness that I just want to cry. I don’t know what I did to deserve all
of this, but I’m truly so thankful. Life has certainly not been perfect but I
would not change a single thing.

I read a verse the other day that struck me hard. John 13:7
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will
understand.”

I had no clue this is where we would be now and I have no
clue where we will be a year or even a couple months from now. BUT it so
incredibly comforting and exciting to know the creator of the universe knows and is orchestrating
everything.

***I apologize for my scattered thoughts and updates. I hope
you are all doing well!! Xoxo Mrs. Parrett

Monday, April 8, 2013

Some Grandma’s pay for college, others go all out at
birthdays and Christmas… My Grandma, well she likes to take us on vacation.
Over the past couple of years she has taken (and paid for) 18-20 of us to
Jamaica, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Mexico.We are a busy family and she knows one way to get us all
together is take us somewhere tropical :).

We are so blessed.

This trip was a little harder then most because my Grandma’s
dementia has gotten a lot worse, even just over the past couple of months. This
trip was probably the last one we will be able to take with her, and I’m really
glad we were able to do it.She is
one of the most fun people I know and she’ll be 80 in October!! She loves
Jesus, her family, beer and the Steelers. She was a principal for many many
years and raised two amazing kids (one being my Dad).

The week was spent mostly just relaxing and spending time
together as a family. I brought my “good” camera but ended up using my phone
for most of the trip! Some of my favorite parts were, of course, the free food
and drink, riding gold carts all over Isla Mujeres, running with the sunset
Easter morning, having my own room with Weston (this was the first family vacay
as a married couple :)),
our personal hammock on the porch, the 85 degree weather, sun, sand, palm
trees, and summer clothes all week!! Mexico is also where Weston and I honeymooned in July so it will always have a special place in my heart.

Here are some iPhone pics from the trip! One day I’ll get
around to uploading the rest.